Gift From the Sea
by keotey1228
Summary: "The sea does reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choice-less as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea." - Annabeth is captured by a crew of pirates. Their captain, the most devilish of them all, Perseus Jackson.
1. Chapter 1

**No demigods... well, not really. This is a six-chapter story. **

It was just an ordinary trip, just like all the rest she had been on. All the men in the crew tried to hit on her or grab her butt, and she would say something witty to confuse them. They're really not very bright.

She sews her own clothes to occupy her time. Every time she makes this trip, she can make three skirts and two shirts. This time she decides to make one elegant dress. This trip was in the Summer, while most of her visits to her parents took place in the Spring because she absolutely adored the sights of the kingdom at this time, but her parents had sent mail to her not to visit during the Spring because of an attack from a rival kingdom. Poseidon, king of Atlantis and the man who seemed to never get older, had attacked her kingdom. They deemed it not safe for her to visit and asked her to wait patiently until it was.

She was irritated by this, especially because her parents were always concerned for her safety. When she lived with them, they had signed her up for many sword fighting lessons. Although she was trained with a sword by her trainer, Luke Castellan, she preferred to use a knife, one which she kept strapped to her leg at all times for safety.

Annabeth Chase, daughter of Frederick and Athena Chase- the king and queen of Athens- could take care of herself.

She was very smart. Once she learned how to talk, her parents got her a tutor to start teaching her how to read. She learned before any of the other kids she met did, and she was proud. While they were still learning, she was reading books from the castle library. She made it a goal to read them all someday. She never did due to the ongoing war with Poseidon's kingdom and her parents sending her away to keep her away from harm, but she aspires to. Gaining more wisdom, more than she already had, was an addiction to her. She could never learn enough.

Pulling another piece of thread to stick through a needle, she is glad she got on this ship. No, her parents didn't know she was coming, but she made herself believe that they would be forced to keep her there and she would be able to stay until it was safe and her parents made her leave.

She hadn't actually considered that they would be attacked on the way to Athens until she heard the clear sound of a cannonball hitting their ship.

Rushing up onto the deck, the crew was rapidly preparing to defend themselves. Shouts were coming from the crow's nest trying to point out where the ship was in the late summer's fog. Men ran all around trying to pull their boots on from sleeping. Several were only wearing their night clothes, rather they fight than get dressed.

One ran past her and had to walk backwards to talk to her. "You have to get below deck, mistress. We don't want you getting hurt up here."

"And what am I supposed to do while you stay up here and fight for your life?"

He grunted. "I dunno. Go back to sewing your dress." He ran back to whatever he was going to do in the first place as she turned to grumpily walk down the stairs.

"I finished it already."

...

Trying her best to ignore the sounds of men dying above her, she decided to model her dress. It had only been on her mannequin, and she had never tried it on to see how it looked on her.

After climbing into it (hey, no one ever said dresses were easy to put on), she turned to look in the large mirror. Her eyes widened.

It was beautiful. The strapless, gray dress made her look tan. The silver gems covered the bodice except for the grey straps across her upper stomach and lower stomach. The bottom part of her dress was flow-y, her preferred dress style. The colors mixed between dark and light grays in the folds. The outfit matched her eyes to a tee. If only she could put on a pair of shoes to match it...

Was the battle over? She stopped looking at herself and listened. There were no more cries of agony. Did we win? She hadn't gotten to see the ship or any of its people to know what crew was trying to overtake them. She didn't know what their fighting level was.

The door that once concealed her below deck was kicked in not moments later. A burly girl with brown/red hair put her foot down. She had just kicked the industrial door off its hinges in one kick. A blonde boy stood over her shoulder.

"Well," she girl snarled. "What do we have here?"

She stood still in shock. No amount of training could count for the fear she felt right then. As they approached her, she tried to back up as far as she could to get away, but they grabbed her and shoved a sack on her head. She felt rope tie around her neck, not tight enough to kill her, but uncomfortable enough to make her weep silently into the cloth.

She was dragged up the set of stairs to the deck and pushed in a direction she hoped wasn't overboard. "Annabeth... no..."

Turning towards where she heard the voice, she heard footsteps walk over towards it and then the sounds of a sword meeting a body. She winced. She couldn't escape if she tried because a pair of hands where still holding her firmly on the shoulders.

"Let's go, Jason," she heard the girl's voice as she walked passed her.

...

"Why'd you keep the girl?" another male voice greeted her as she stepped down onto what she assumed was the enemy ship. "You know the captain doesn't take prisoners."

"Look at her dress," she's thrown to the floor as the male holding her points out her clothing. "No ordinary girl has a dress that nice."

Several new voices join the conversation, boys and girls alike. They continue to talk for a few more minutes, probably about her, but she is too terrified to care. She can't see through the bag and she can't get it off with her hands newly tied behind her back. She was a prisoner.

"Why don't we just kill her? She can't be worth anything good enough for the trouble of keeping her."

"And how would you know, Thalia?"

The whole crew turned silent. I held my breath, uncomfortable with how this new voice silenced the crowd.

"Who do you have there?" She heard one pair of footsteps come from the direction of the new voice. His steps were slow and carefree. He seemed to have control of the whole situation. Maybe he was the captain. The one that didn't take prisoners.

"I don't know, but one of the men called her Annabeth."

Silence again. She was confused. Why was the captain silent now? Then there was a pair of footsteps that quickly walked up to her. She could see a shadow through the bag and knew that the captain was right above her. She could hear the sound of a knife being drawn and bowed her head to bite back her sobs. Then the captain leaned forward and cut through the rope around her neck. The sack was yanked off of her head and she had to adjust to the minimal lights around her. It was nighttime, after all.

Looking up, she couldn't quite make out any of the people just yet, but looking up, she could clearly see the sail in the moonlight. It had the symbol of The Tartarus. Oh this was not good. She has heard many stories about him. Read books about his legend. The legend of Perseus Jackson.

She looks around at the crew as her eyes adjust to the light and she is able to make them out. And more importantly, the captain. He looks nothing like his picture. First of all, he was not old like he has been described as. The beard on his face is nonexistent, and he has no wrinkles. He only looks to be about 17; her age.

His dark hair was not the white it has been pictured as. The one thing the books got right were his eye. Singular. A dusty, black eye patch covered his left eye. The other stared back at her in all of its sea-green glory.

He smiled without showing his teeth and stood straight, still looking at her. "Annabeth Chase."

Suddenly the crew started to shout. She was able to pick up phrases like, "This is a Chase?" and "Let me gut her!" The captain did nothing to stop their yelling. At first. He only stood there, looking over his crew with a stoic expression. She knew she was done for. They all wanted to kill her.

Then, Perseus raised his arms and pushed them towards his crew. Water rose out of the sea on the right side of the ship and followed his actions, dousing the entire crew. They all stopped yelling, only to complain and ask what that was for.

How did he do that with the water..? That couldn't be possible, and all of the crew acted like it was nothing.

The captain stood silent, watching them again until they all stopped talking. "You will not harm this girl. She is your new crew-mate."

Everyone, including her, screamed out, "What!?" The crew then began to complain. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to the crew. They were all about her age, give or take a few years. The Tartarus crew in the books were all older men and women who dedicated their lives to their captain.

"We all know you want to kill her too," they all silenced as soon as the curly brown-haired boy started to talk. "After what her father did to you... and us."

The captain nodded. "This much is true. But she is not her father, now is she?"

No one dared to speak against the captain. This wasn't a question he wanted an answer to.

"Anyone want to comment?" No one spoke. "Good. Piper."

One girl's eyes widened and she slowly stepped forward. Her dark brown hair was braided to the side with a beautiful pink feather tied to the bottom. "Yes?"

"I want you to show Ms. Chase to her room. Get her some new clothes. That dress will certainly not do." With that, the captain turned and stalked his way into what she assumed was the captain's quarters. She was alone with the crew that wanted to kill her.

Slowly, Piper walked over to her. "This way." The meek girl walked across the deck towards the staircase to take them below deck. Annabeth cautiously followed after her. She didn't trust anyone on this ship, and she had every right to be cautious. Once she reached the bottom, Piper pulled out a knife. Annabeth tried to run right back up, but Piper stopped her.

"Hey, hey," Piper tried to settle her down. "I'm not hurt you. I'm going to cut the ropes off your wrists." She hadn't even noticed that they were even still there. Her fear pressed to the front of her mind; the pain was pushed to the back.

Piper gave her a look that said 'May I?' and Annabeth turned her back, still making sure to keep an eye on the girl. The ropes fell to the floor and Annabeth rubbed her wrists. They hadn't cut into her skin, but they were red.

"This," Piper opened a small door to a closet-sized room. "Is your room." The only thing inside was a small, twin-sized bed, and a tiny porthole. She would not be able to escape out of that.

"And this," Annabeth turned to see that Piper was holding a folded pair of used clothing. "Is two sets of clothes for you to wear. When one is dirty, you wash it yourself."

She dumped the clothes in Annabeth's arms. "We serve a light breakfast at dawn. If you are not there, you do not get any. Lunch is served at midday. If you are not there, you do not get any. Dinner is served at dusk. If you are not there, you do, not, get any. Got it?"

Annabeth nodded meekly.

"You are expected to clean up after yourself and I would advise to not get in the crew's way. You'll need to carry your own weight, so what can you do?"

Annabeth paled. She had to work for these people? With these people? "I don't know. I sewed this dress."

"Alright," Piper nodded. "You can be our tailor. Gods know we need to patch up holes in all of our clothes."

"I can fight, too."

Piper gave a small laugh and then a smile. "Sorry, but there is no way Percy... captain will let you fight."

Annabeth wondered about the nickname, but passed it off.

"I'm the cook, and could use some help during meal preparation. It'll give you something to do when you're not sewing. If you ever have any free time, I would wipe down the deck. I don't mean with a rag, but at least a mop and bucket. Stay away from the crew during these times."

Annabeth nodded to imply that she understood.

"I'm sorry that you got roped into this. It's probably not what you wanted." She began to walk away and Annabeth was tempted to let her, but she couldn't hold it in.

"You have a beautiful knife." Not the smartest thing to say when she could stick it in her guts at any time. Piper turned and gave her an incredulous look. She pulled out her knife again and Annabeth thought that maybe she would just stick it in her guts.

"Thank you. It's called Katoptris." She smiled and then walked up the stairs.

Annabeth let out a large breath and then began to cry. She was trapped with a crew of pirates that want to kill her, hosted by the most known captain for his reputation as a killer. Laying down on her bed, she curled into a ball.

One thing she began to think of puzzled her. How did the captain know who she was?

...

**Just a little, JSYK... this story takes place several thousand years after the books do. Camp Half Blood doesn't exist.**

**In case you wanted to see the dress...**

** search?q=grey+prom+dress&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS568US568&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=fTOvVNbTNcG7ggSN9IC4Bw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643#imgdii=_&imgrc=IKBBI8KBOd-b3M%253A%3B6YxbOTo4BvOPfM%3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252Fupfile%252FProm%252520Dresses%252F2011%252520New%252520Collection%252FGrey%252520Handmade%2525202011%252520New%252520Collection%252520Prom%252520Dresses% %3Bhttp%253A%252F% .com%252Fpd_ %3B500%3B680**


	2. Chapter 2

She awoke to her door being slammed open. Piper was carrying a basket with spools of thread, cloth, and a sewing kit. "I see you haven't gotten dressed. It'll get in the way of your work, so you are going to have to change."

Setting down the basket, she left Annabeth alone. She blinked back the light from outside the door and looked through the basket. There were a few different colors of cloth; only white, black, and gray. There was only one spool of thread: black. It took up half of the basket.

Annabeth still couldn't believe that this was real. She wanted to believe that it wasn't, but she knew that she was trapped here. Looking at the two sets of clothes that had rolled off her bed onto the floor, she closed the door. She didn't want her dress to get dirty or ripped so if she did make it out of here, she might still be able to wear it. Pulling off her dress, she folded it the best she could and stuck it under her bed. She noticed a wooden box underneath the bed but decided against pulling it out. There could be spiders... she hated spiders. They always managed to find her no matter where she was.

She picked up the velvet red shirt and pulled it over her head. Smoothing it out, she noticed a small hole on her stomach. Inspecting it further, she realized that it was a bullet hole. The blood stains were still visible through the red in the shirt. She shivers and shrugs it off her body. Pulling on the navy blue one instead, she put the red one on her bed, making note that she needed to do a thorough wash on it later.

Glancing at the rest of the clothes, it consisted of two pairs of filthy, black leggings. Putting on one of the pairs, she noticed two skirts. One matched the blue shirt, and the other matched the red. She decided on wearing the red skirt. Checking it for blood and seeing none, she put it on.

Remembering her knife, she took it out to look at it. She knew that she couldn't use it now. She was one against a whole crew, and even if she did kill them all, she would be alone in the middle of the ocean with no idea where to go. She had to wait for a good time to use it, and if the crew found out she had a knife, they would take it away and she would lose her only shot of escaping. She put it back in its spot in her leg band underneath her skirt but over her leggings.

She pulled her hair out of her bun and fluffed it. She felt filthy and wished she had a shower. Putting it back up but in a ponytail, she slipped on the tan pair of converse and ran out of the room.

...

The first thing she realized up the stairs was that everyone was eating some form of breakfast and it made her real hungry. She had missed breakfast, so she knew she wasn't going to be able to eat until lunch.

She stood off to the side, out of the sights of the crew and looked for Piper. When she spot the girl over by the blonde boy that had captured her yesterday (Jason, she thought his name was), she tried to catch her attention. It wasn't that Annabeth trusted her, but she trusted her more than the rest of the crew.

When Piper saw her waving, she excused herself to Jason and walked over to her. She said nothing, so Annabeth took that as her cue to talk. "I um... I wanted to know if I could take a shower."

Piper smiled sadly. "There's three showers on this ship. One is in the captain's room. One is in the male's quarters, and the other is in the female's. Unless you want to brave the rest of the crew being in there, I'd deal with the filth."

Annabeth stuttered. "B-but that's not fair."

Piper shrugged.

"Where do I go to the bathroom? Is there only three of those?" Annabeth hoped there was at least a bathroom or she would be screwed.

Piper nodded. "Didn't you look in the trunk under your bed?"

Annabeth was very confused but thanked her and started to walk away, but Piper stopped her.

"Wait, Annabeth," She put a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to have to start tailoring. Make a sign and put it on the basket. Bring it up here where the crew can see it so they can put all of their ripped clothes in it for you to work on. It'll be better than them going to you and having to give you their clothes. It might make them want to punch you."

"Why do they hate me so much?" Annabeth had wondered it all last night and this morning.

Piper shrugged. "They don't hate you. They hate your dad."

"Why?"

"Everyone, in one or the other, lost something because of him. Jason, the blonde I was just talking to, was forced from his mother and sister when he was young to go live with a different family. He was never happy there. Thalia, who is actually Jason's sister, had lost her baby brother until we found him when he was sixteen."

"Who's Thalia?"

Piper pointed over to a girl with black hair playing chess with the girl who had taken her aboard the ship. "The one on the left."

"They look nothing alike..."

Piper gave a small laugh. "They're more alike in personality than appearance. Trust me."

"What about the girl sitting across from her?"

Piper glanced over to who it was. "Clarisse. Her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, was killed awhile back. The guy sitting behind them, fiddling with the scraps is our mechanic, Leo. He lost his mom in a fire when he was young. He was even blamed for the fire and put in foster home after foster home."

"And the group of guys over by the wheel?"

Piper looked to where she gestured. "The curly haired one is Grover. He lost both his legs, and has to wear prosthetics. He's the captain's first mate. Closest friend and has been around longer than the rest of us."

"How long have you been around?"

"About two hundred years, give or take a decade or two. I lost count awhile back." She shrugged as if it was no big deal and Annabeth paled. "The guy to the right of Grover, with the baby face? His name is Frank. He lost his grandmother and still hasn't quite gotten over it... To his right, with the dark brown hair, is Nico. Him and his sister were on the run since they were little. Went to a sophisticated school for a bit til they had to leave. His sister, Bianca, died shortly after because of one of your dad's attack on Atlantis."

Annabeth was absolutely heartbroken for all these people, and she didn't feel quite as scared of them knowing their story, but then became more afraid when she realized that they had every right to kill her.

Piper continued. "They're up in the lookout tower now working, but there's Hazel and Rachel. Rachel's the red head, so you know when you see her which one is which. Hazel had to be uprooted from her life with her mom. Never saw her again and now she's dead. Rachel's parents were recruited into your dad's kingdom. She hated it there, and eventually left."

"And.." Annabeth didn't really want to know but figured she should. "What about you?"

Piper turned sad and sighed. "It was Jason... we were going out and we loved each other. Before I joined, I knew about his work here and he was going to leave it for me. So we could live a normal life together. But... then he was taken. And it's weird, because this is the second time he's been lost. I ended up taking his place in the crew. We found Jason about a year back, and he had no memory of me. He didn't know who I was, and he's uncomfortable around me now. I lost him even though he's right in front of me."

"I'm.. sorry. I didn't know all of these things. I haven't lived with my parents in so long, I always thought they only did what was necessary between him and Poseidon's kingdom..."

Piper smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. I don't blame you, and I believe that some people of the crew don't either. I know for a fact that Jason doesn't. We were just talking about you before you called me over."

"Oh," Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief. "How many people here do hate me?"

Piper thought for a second. "I know Clarisse does. Maybe Nico and Frank, and I'm not sure about Grover, Leo and Thalia. Rachel probably doesn't because it's not really your dad's fault that she joined us. Hazel might dislike you, but she has a very open mind and won't do anything rash to you."

Annabeth nodded and thanked Piper for all of the information. Piper nodded. "Oh, and I'm going to start making lunch in a little bit. I'll come get you when I need your help."

"Alright, but I must warn you I've never cooked before."

Piper chuckled. "That's alright. I just need an extra pair of hands. Maybe you'll learn some things."

Annabeth was left alone to gather all of her thoughts. All of these people had a problem with her dad, and she wondered if he had justified reasons for all of them. She hoped he did, for his sake.

Feeling the the urge to pee, she made her way downstairs, remembering what Piper said about the trunk underneath the bed. She didn't know what would be inside, but she assumed toiletries. Opening the door to her room, she bent down and pulled the trunk out so she could open it. Unlocking the hatch and peering inside, she felt sick at the contents.

"A bucket and a dirty rag. This is so low..."

...

"Hey, Piper?" Annabeth paused from cutting up the vegetables she had been assigned. Piper hmm-d but didn't turn her head. "What about the captain?"

"What about the captain, what?" She sprinkled in a few seasonings from an organized wooden cabinet.

Annabeth felt she had the right to know, but she thinks that by asking, she could be crossing into deep water. "What did he lose..?"

Piper stopped stirring and turned to look at her with a questionable look. "Why do you want to know?"

Annabeth shrugged and Piper turned back to her pot. She didn't answer and Annabeth awkwardly went back to cutting the vegetables. They sat in silence until Piper decided to break it. "He lost his eye."

"I'm sorry?" Annabeth turned, not quite sure what she meant.

"Perseus. He lost his eye. It was about ten years back when he came in contact with a group of men your dad sent to chase after him. He had been spotted going in Poseidon's kingdom and they attacked him there."

"But..." Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched together. "He's been, who he is, for a long time, and this only happened ten years ago?"

Piper shrugged. "That's what he always says the reason is, but everyone knows it's something else. We've put together guesses, but none of us know for sure why he really has a thing out for your dad."

Annabeth said nothing and they slipped into a more comfortable silence. Annabeth continued with her cutting and Piper busied herself around the kitchen doing her chef things.

"So what's his story?" Annabeth looked up at her as she pulled out some bread and started to cut it right across from her.

"I don't know everything because he really keeps his thoughts to himself. Nico does too, but he's real lightweight when it comes to alcohol. It wasn't hard to get it out of him but Percy... he's a closed book."

Annabeth waited for Piper to continue. "What do you know about him?"

"I don't know, the normal stuff."

Piper chuckled. "I've been with this lot for two centuries. I don't know what 'the normal stuff' is."

"Well," Annabeth chuckled too. "I know that he doesn't die. I don't believe that whole 'the devil thinks he's too evil for the underworld' thing that is in the textbooks and everyone believes."

Piper nodded. "Well, you are right about the not dying part, but that's not the reason why. He told us it was in his blood."

"What's in his blood?"

"Immortality," Piper finished cutting the large loaf and got another to cut up. "That's how we are all living as long as we are. It's a blood bond that passes the immortality to us."

"So you can really never die?" Annabeth thought it was hard to believe. It seemed too much like a fairy tale.

"Well," Piper turned around and carried her basket of cut bread to the oven and started to put them on cooking sheets. "We can die, but we can't die of old age. Disease won't kill us either because our blood fights it off as quickly as it comes. But if we are mortally wounded, we can die. Reyna..."

Her voice broke and she shook her head. "Another girl, Reyna, joined about when Jason did. She died when we went to get him back last year, by being shot in the stomach. She bled out. That's when we found out that we _can_ die."

Annabeth thought about the shirt that she has back in her cabin with the bullet hole in the stomach and realizes that her clothes were Reyna's. She doesn't speak this out loud though.

"What about... Perseus?" She refrained from calling him Percy, because it seemed like a name his friends called him. As far as she was sure, they're not friends.

"You mean, can he die?" Piper stuck all of the bread in the oven and set a timer. Annabeth nodded. "No. He's gotten his fair share of wounds and he never seemed to bleed out more than a pint, even if it should have killed him. We all assume that we got the watered down version of immortality, having gotten it from him while it's directly in his blood."

They again fell into silence before another thought came to Annabeth. "What about the curse?"

"What curse?" Piper gave her an incredulous look.

Annabeth felt a bit embarrassed now. "Well... in one of the books, it says that he was cursed, and that it can be seen from the eye he has the eye patch on."

"Uhm..." Piper raised her eyebrow. "No."

"Oh." They stared at each other for a second before Piper started to laugh and Annabeth joined her. "Do you know where he got the immortality from?"

Piper shook her head and went back to cooking. "He won't say if he even knows where. My guess has always been his parents, since blood type is a sex-linked trait. Immortality could've been passed down to him, but if so, where are his parents? That's the only flaw in my idea, because they would still be alive, so we're all in the dark on that too."

Annabeth just finished with the vegetables and asked what she wanted her to do now. Piper gave Annabeth an index card with directions on it and told her to just follow them exactly and it should turn out fine. "What am I making?"

"Rice."

They once again fell into silence for a few minutes while they worked. Annabeth took the bag of rice and measured out the amount needed. She got a large pot and filled it halfway with water like the recipe said. She poured in the rice and turned on the stove to get it to boil.

"How do you get your supplies?" Annabeth set a timer and turned to see Piper just pulling out the bread. It smelled so good.

"We go onshore, of course," Piper then stopped and looked back at her. "You won't be able to escape though. Even if you could get off the ship, we now only go to ports that require passports to exit the docks because of you. Captain's idea."

Annabeth nodded, understanding her words. Her mind was on overload with thoughts. If she waited until they docked she could sneak off the boat. She could use her knife as a passport and be able to escape. She just needed to be able to figure out how to get off the boat.

"Can you bring the vegetables over here?" Piper called her from the pot she has been working on. Annabeth grabbed the tray of cut up vegetables and scraped them off the plate into the pot at Piper's request.

"Can you also get the rice and pour it in the pot when it's done?" Annabeth confirmed that she would and went to look at the rice to see how much was left. Only half a minute. She anxiously stood there waiting for it to be done, and when it beeped, she turned off the burner and removed the pot. Bringing the pot over to the other became a lot more difficult as it was very heavy. She stopped twice on the way, but eventually got there. Carefully tipping the pot, she made most of the rice in with the clear yellow liquid and vegetables.

"Stir it, please." She turned to see Piper arranging the breads in three baskets. Annabeth began to stir the stuff in the pot, which she believed to be soup because of the smell. It wasn't what she was used to eating, but it smelled really good.

"Alright, that's good." Piper walked over, took the wooden spoon from Annabeth, and put a cover on the pot. "Can you take the baskets of bread to the window? It's where we serve the food."

Annabeth turned around in search of the window as Piper began to pull out spoons and cups. Spotting a hole in the wall with a metal cover over it, she took two baskets of bread over to the window and set them on the wood table right below it. Making another trip with the last basket, Piper came over with a cup of spoons and a stack of plastic cups.

"Why plastic cups?"

Piper giggled. "We weren't responsible enough for glasses. At least two would be broken a day. We eventually had to buy a new set, and decided on something that can't break."

She went back over to the cabinet she got the cups from and grabbed a stack of reusable plastic bowls. "See? Anything that can break was replaced with plastic." She set them on the table with the cups. "Help me with the pot. It's too heavy for me to carry on my own."

...

"You want me to what!?" Annabeth couldn't believe the task that Piper had just assigned her. Out of all the things she could do, this was her least favorite.

"I want you to serve them." Piper looked bluntly at her. "If you serve them, they may start to see you as something other than a lazy princess and might like to see that you pull your own weight. And maybe if you can talk to them, they may start to like you. You can at least see who's on your side and who hates your guts."

Annabeth looked at her with fear in her eyes but Piper went over and opened the metal screen and saw two people already waiting there for lunch. It was who she assumed were Hazel and Rachel. "Hi."

The red head, Rachel, smiled back at Annabeth and shook her hand.

"Hey Red. I see you're getting a nice tan now that the weather is starting to clear up."

"Red?" I filled up a bowl with soup and gave her a bread.

"It's my initials. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. And also my hair color." She wasn't kidding. Her hair was the brightest red that Annabeth has ever seen. Annabeth poured a yellow drink into a cup from the pitcher Piper just brought to the table. She loved lemonade.

Sliding over the drink, Rachel thanked her and smiled. She smiled back, glad Rachel was on her side. Hazel walked forward and Annabeth greeted her. She didn't smile or say anything back and Annabeth's smile dropped as she poured a bowl of soup for her.

'Uh oh,' she thought. 'Hazel doesn't like me.'

She handed her bread and a drink cup and she took her tray to a seat without saying anything to her. Piper walked around to the other side and Annabeth gave her her lunch. "It's alright. Hazel will come around."

She winked and left to go sit down. She saw three of the guys walk up the set of stairs that leads to their cabins and go over to get their food. They all stop laughing when they see that Annabeth was serving. Frank turns stoic and stops walking to let the other guys go in front of him. Grover walks up first and she greets him. He looks surprised at her, but gives her a polite "hello" back. He takes his tray and goes to sit down. Jason walks up to her and smiles.

"Grover is kinda iffy about you, but that's better than hating you," Jason whispers to her as she gives him his lunch. He flashes her a smile and walks over to go sit with Piper.

Frank slowly walks forward and gives her a hard stare. Annabeth gulps quietly and gives him the same greeting she had given everyone else, but he ignores it. She breathes a sigh as he stalks away to sit with Hazel. Annabeth stares at the soup and begins to stir it in boredom.

"Excuse me."

She jumps and snaps her head up to see the dark brown-haired boy, Nico, looking at her. "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you."

"Yeah." He all but snaps at her in a leveled voice. She pours another bowl and gives him the meal.

He walks away before she even has a chance to say she was sorry again, and she tries not to let it get to her. She figured he hated her. He lost his only family because of her dad.

"Hello, Miss Priss." Her eyes widen as Clarisse, the one she knows hates her with every fiber of her being, walks up and leans on the bar with a smirk and a glare. "I'll have two bowls of soup."

"Uhm. I'm only supposed to give you one."

Clarisse keeps her same smirk. "You say something, runt?"

Annabeth shook her head and filled up two bowls with soup. Clarisse mock-thanked her and strode away with an extra bowl of soup. She really hoped she didn't just give away someone's bowl. The mechanic, Leo, popped up through a hatch in the deck covered in grease. He pulled a cloth out of his tool belt and wiped off only his hands as he climbed out and shut the door. He walked up to her. "Yo, how's your first day?"

She was surprised he wanted to talk to her. "It's been alright. Better than I thought."

"Piper's not working you too hard, is she?" He was joking, she deduced. Annabeth laughed.

"No, she's been good to me." She handed him his food and he thanked her. He was just about to walk away when she stopped him.

"Wait," he stopped and turned around. "Do you hate me?"

Leo's smile faltered and he thought for a few moments before shrugging. "I don't hate you, but I don't necessarily like you either. I hate your dad for what he's done, and I don't blame you, but I can't exactly force myself to like you."

Annabeth nodded. She understood. She really did, and he had every right to. Thalia walked up as he walked away. She had a stormy look in her eyes, but Annabeth couldn't tell if it was a bad storm or not.

"Good afternoon," Annabeth plastered a smile on her face. Thalia didn't smile back, but she responded in the same way. She simply took her food and walked away.

There was only one bowl left, and she was sure the captain was the only one that hasn't come for his lunch. She looks out across the deck to see if she could see him, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. She made eye contact with Piper, who was motioning for her to come sit down with them. Annabeth shook her head and mouthed 'captain' to her. Piper kept motioning over and she repeated herself.

Piper mouthed back to her 'I know' and again motioned her over. Annabeth pushed the door open and walked over to see what Piper wanted to tell her.

"Captain doesn't eat at the same time as us," she informed her. "He'll come later to get his own lunch. Go get some food for yourself and come sit with us."

Annabeth nodded and walked back into the kitchen. She noticed the one bowl and decided to leave it for the captain when he came. She went through the cabinets and found that there were no more bowls left. She grabbed a plate instead and poured some soup on it. She got a cup of lemonade and a bread and piled them all of her tray. She walked slowly to the door and kicked it open with her foot. Annabeth kept her eyes on the tray to avoid having her precious soup spill and neglected to see a leg stick out from a table to trip her.

She fell for it, literally.

Her soup and lemonade went flying to the floor and her tray flew across the deck. She quickly flipped over onto her back and saw Clarisse laughing at her. She didn't care that she was the only one enjoying Annabeth's pain. Annabeth glared at her with rage and quickly stood up and stalked over to her. Clarisse didn't even see it coming.

The sound of a face being slapped halted Clarisse's laughing. Her left cheek had a red hand print on it. She turned her head to Annabeth and gave her a surprised look.

"You think I'm just going to take your bullying? I don't get why you want to make my life terrible, but know that you can not ruin it. I will go to the mat cut and bleeding if it means that I am standing up to you. I am not one that you can mess around with."

The whole deck was silent, and Annabeth was proud that she stood up for herself.

"That was very brave of you."

Annabeth's stomach dropped as she turned to see the captain standing about ten feet behind her leaning against the mast. He was smiling, and Annabeth was confused. She had thought that he might yell at her.

"Did you see what she just did to me?!" Clarisse got up and yelled at the captain.

"Did you see what you just did to her?" He retaliated.

"She deserved it!"

"Well maybe so did you."

Clarisse shut up nice and and tight. She looked around for support, but now it seemed that the whole crew was backing with the captain and prisoner. She screamed in frustration and stormed down the stairs to the girl's cabins.

The deck was silent as the captain waked over to Annabeth. She was still petrified in fear. She stood stock-still as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Come see me tonight after sundown. I want to talk to you."

He immediately turned around and walked back into his room and closed the door behind him.

She looked around at the crew and saw a look of shock on all of their faces. Thalia smiled and began to laugh. "Go Miss Priss."


	3. Chapter 3

**Please excuse my laziness. I have no excuses. **

Annabeth stood at the captain's door, alone. The sun had passed its shift over to the moon a while ago. This is the third time she has stood at this door since then. She couldn't bring herself to just knock on the door of the man who kidnapped her for small talk.

She lifted a hand to the door but stood still, trying to gain the courage to actually knock on it. She breathed in and quickly tapped before she psyched herself out. She stood silently for less than a minute but it felt like an eternity before the door opened.

Percy opened the door wide and looked at her. Neither of them said anything. He nodded his head, gesturing for her to come in, before stepping back and walking over to his desk. He threw a book onto the navy blue comforter of his bed. As she walked in, she went over slowly to the book and picked it up. She glanced over at him to see that he didn't yell at her to stop, so she looked at it.

"It's a field journal," she looked back up at him. He was now sitting on top of the desk with his blue converse-clad feet crossed across each other. "A friend of mine wrote it."

Annabeth glanced at the book before looking back at him. "Why are you showing it to me?"

He shrugged. "I figured that if I wanted you to trust me, you'd have to know who I was and not who books say I am." She studied him. He was most certainly not what she expected. When she thought immortal, she thought some old man with a white beard and no hair on his head. She definitely did not expect someone who looked no older than her, and cute, she had to admit.

He was wearing a dark blue and green plaid shirt with a black long sleeve under it. It complimented his eyes- well, eye. His black hair, although messy, suited him.

It seemed as though he was studying her as well.

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and sat down on his bed. She was about to jump back up, but he didn't seem to mind. She stuttered before talking. "Why are you standing up for me?"

He shrugged again. "Honestly, I don't really know. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about killing someone. Much less a mortal. Even less, you specifically."

She swallowed. "Why me? What exactly did I do?"

"Nothing, really. But your parents..."

She nodded understanding. "You don't have to tell me."

"I haven't told anyone and I was about to tell someone I've just met."

Annabeth looked back over to him. Percy wouldn't meet her eye. "Tell me what?"

"Something that only my dad knows."

Annabeth internally gasped. She instantly remembered Piper's theory about how he got his immortality from his parents. She didn't want to pry though, so she kept silent. He shook his head and slid off the desk into the chair. He deposited his feet on the table and lifted a hand. She watched as he began to play with the water in his cup without even touching it.

"How can you do that?" She noticed him look over to her but this didn't make the water stop moving.

"My dad." He looked back at the water.

"He could do that too?"

Percy chuckled. "He could do so much more than me." He looked at her through his bangs with a smile and she returned it, because it seemed as though he actually meant it.

"Can I ask you..." She stopped, seeing his smile drop and feeling that she had extended her reach too far. "No, sorry."

"No, it's okay. Ask."

She nodded and looked down at her lap. "How are you immortal?"

He didn't answer. She looked at him through her hair and saw that he had started playing with the water again. She was about to apologize when he answered. "Maybe you should go get some sleep..."

She nodded furiously. "Of course, of course, sorry yeah."

Annabeth picked up the book again and quickly made her way to the door. She stopped with her hand on the door knob.

"Can I ask you one last thing?"

"Maybe you shouldn't."

"It's an easy one." Getting a slow nod, she continued. "Do you have any kids?

He smiled and then gave a small chuckle. "I've been immortal for over a thousand years. I've seen things I've never wanted to see, done things I've never wanted to do, and experienced things I will never forget. I would never want to give that to a child. So, no, I don't."

She nodded slowly and opened the door. "Annabeth?"

Annabeth turned back to him and saw that he was now sitting up straight in the chair. He smiled. "Goodnight."

...

She didn't sleep that night, but honestly, she hadn't planned on it. She spent the whole night reading and rereading the journal of who she now believes was the deceased Reyna. The one who's clothing she now wore.

Grover became immortal as soon as Percy hit the age where he would stop getting physically older. Clarisse, Rachel, Nico and Thalia joined about five hundred years back. Jason, Reyna and Leo nearly four hundred back, Frank and Hazel a little over three hundred, and Piper two hundred back.

The journal confirmed everything Piper has told her and she began to learn new things. Everyone burned off their fingerprints when they joined so when they rob places, they can't leave any behind. She learned about how it felt to be immortal straight from Reyna's personal thoughts. She felt a little intrusive, but she couldn't stop herself; plus she did get permission.

She also got to see more into the mysterious captain's life. Apparently his birthday is on August 18th, and the crew always celebrates it by putting blue food coloring in the day's meals (along with a blue birthday cake for dessert). She didn't understand his fetish for all things blue, but she had noticed it. His blanket, his clothes, and his door.

There was a picture that took up a whole page of a woman and a small toddler, who she was certain was a little Percy with whom must be his mom. She glanced over to Reyna's notes. _Found out what happened to his mom. Apparently she was killed when Perce was little. Must be why he's so resentful, but why against Poseidon, Athena, and Frederick?_

The last sentence confused her the most. 'Why against Poseidon?' She didn't know he hated Poseidon, and it only brought up more questions.

There was a knock on her door. She blinked in confusion and then realized that the sun was up and she had to go get breakfast. She stood, quickly brushed her hair back with her fingers and opened the door. It was Percy.

He was in a simple attire again. Still his blue converse, but a short sleeve, teal shirt. He smiled at her. "Breakfast?"

...

No one was sitting down when she walked up the stairs with Percy, and the food window wasn't open either. "Uhm... Perseus?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave a small grin. "Percy, Annabeth."

She smiled. "Percy... where is everyone?"

"Didn't you notice?" She was confused. "We docked."

Annabeth's eyes widened and turned around. Behind her was a beautiful village positively glowing with the morning sunrise. She turned back to Percy, who handed her a shoulder bag. "What's this for?"

"Figured you're traveling; you might want a souvenir."

...

He was right. After getting an amazing breakfast, she stopped Percy immediately to look at a large antique store. She got lost in an isle full of grandfather clocks and looked at one with a silver owl on top with fondness. She kept walking until she found a section with books. This is where he found her at least a half hour later.

She had taken at least a dozen books off of the shelves and set them in two piles. She was currently flipping through a book before putting it back on the shelf and grabbing another.

Percy sat down in a fuzzy chair across from where she stacked her books. He watched her for a minute before deciding to speak up. "It seems that you like books."

Annabeth chuckled. "Seems like it, Seaweed Brain."

He put on a mocking face. "I'm hurt." She laughed.

"So what are these piles of books?"

"Well," she sat down. "I love books. So I'm organizing them."

"Organizing how?"

She pointed to one stack. "These are books I've already read." She pointed to the other. "These are ones that look interesting."

Annabeth stood back up and once again began flipping through books and organizing them. She hadn't noticed Percy had gone until he came back with a tray with two sandwiches and two drinks.

He smiled and picked up a book from the already-read pile. "Looks like we'll be here a little while."

...

Throughout the book, Percy would ask Annabeth a question about it or just for small talk. Eventually Annabeth had stopped sorting and sat down with an old book. _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. _She had read the books prior to this one but had never gotten to finish the rest of the series.

Percy had picked up a smaller book:_ Defending Jacob. _She couldn't wait til he finished it. He stopped talking to her after they had sandwiches, becoming very engrossed in the book. She took this time to look at him more.

Annabeth couldn't help it. She was attracted to her kidnapper and yet she didn't feel disturbed by it. She used to be afraid of him, after she has read the books about him. She couldn't say she wasn't scared when she first saw him, but she quickly began to feel comfortable around him.

He was so kind, and something about him just felt _right. _She couldn't explain it. He just felt like a normal guy, minus his eye patch and immortality. If she forgot about those things, she can't say that she wouldn't be content with staying with his crew. She knew this was crazy, as she had only knew him a few days, but it's amazing how much you can learn about a person when they aren't looking.

The sun had just fallen by the time Percy spoke again. He slammed the book on the table. "No no no no no no no no no no NO they did NOT just kill Jacob."

Annabeth laughed and Percy gave her a look. "Feels like you set me up."

"I did not." Annabeth's stomach growled. They both laughed. "Let's go get back to the ship. Everyone else is probably already there."

Annabeth paid for the book she was reading with money she found in her bag and they walked back to the docks. Passing by a store, she stopped. There was a beautiful, yet simple dress hanging in the window. She walked over to the store and went inside.

Making a beeline for the dress, she noticed that it was the same color blue that Percy has all over his room. The kind of blue he likes. She turned, hearing a bell sound and saw Percy walk over to her.

She blushed, feeling girly for looking at a dress, but Percy smiled a knowing smile and went over to the man who owned the place. "I'd like to buy the blue dress in the window."

Annabeth smiled wide, ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders. "Thank you Percy!"

She knew she should feel uncomfortable, but she didn't. Although she's barely spent any time with this guy, she feels as though she's known him her whole life. He hugs her back.

When they pull apart, he's smiling. "Now go try on the dress."

...

When she walks out of the old-fashioned dressing room, Percy's smile gets wider than she's ever seen. The dress was in two pieces. It was mostly blue with black cheetah print on it. The top showed her shoulders and a bit of her midriff. The skirt was long on one side and short on the other. She's never worn anything skimpy like this, because of people that knew her, but Annabeth felt confident around Percy.

"You look beautiful." Annabeth didn't even time to say thank you before they both heard a loud 'boom' from outside. Glancing quickly at each other, they ran out of the store to see that their ship was on fire and an equally large ship was getting ready to dock up to it.

They ran along the dock at top speed. Percy summoned the water to follow him and he flung it at the ship trying to make the fire go out. They made it up to the deck to see their crew fighting off another crew. Percy pulled out a sword she never knew he had on him and helped Frank beat down two guys that were ganging up on him.

"Thanks," he gasped. "I need to go find Hazel. I haven't seen her." He raced down the stairs as another guy came up to Percy and they clashed swords.

"Annabeth, get back!" Percy pushed the guy forward.

"Annabeth?" The guy squinted at her as if he recognized her. Percy pushed forward and continued to try and get the upper hand. As Annabeth watched, she neglected to see another guy come up from behind her.

She yelped as the guy put a knife to her throat. Percy kicked his opponent down and turned to see her being held. "Let her go!"

The guy laughed. "Oh no. That won't happen. We've been searching for her a long time. Her daddy wants her back home."

Annabeth gasped. "My dad sent you?"

"To rescue you, of course. But he did mention that if we find that one," He nodded to Percy. "That we can bring him in, too."

Percy stood up straight and visibly breathed in deeply. Annabeth stood silent as the guy holding her threw taunts. "This is the great Perseus Jackson? You're going to just stand there?"

Annabeth could faintly hear a trickle of water from behind her and looking at Percy, she figured that she was about to be doused. She nodded as much as she could.

He smirked. "No. I'm not."

He thrust his hands towards him and Annabeth felt herself falling forward. Before she hit the ground, she saw Percy slide on the water of the deck and catch her before she hit the ground. He pulled her onto her feet and she breathed deeply. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and looked down to the man. Blood seeped out of the large wound on his back. Who knew water could be sharp?

"We have to get out of here!" Percy tried to pull Annabeth toward to the dock. Annabeth shook out of his grip.

"What are you talking about?! This is your crew! Your friends!"

He shook his head and grabbed her again. "They can take care of themselves. Plus, they're immortal. You aren't. My priority is you."

"But..."

"Just go, Prissy!"

Annabeth turned around to see Clarisse bash the butt of her sword onto one guy's head. She quickly looked over her shoulder. "Take care of your princess."

She was sure that Clarisse was joking, but Percy made eye contact with Clarisse and he nodded in understanding. He turned back to Annabeth. "We need to go. Now."

...

They hadn't even made it off the dock before the ship exploded. Annabeth felt her feet leave the ground as her and Percy were thrown into the water.

She must have blacked out for a few seconds, because she doesn't remember hitting the sandy bottom. She looks towards the surface and out of impulse tries to go up for air before she realizes that she doesn't need any air. She's already breathing.

Annabeth looks around and sees Percy kneeling a few feet away from her. He's glaring at the bottom of her father's ship He's not holding his breath, so either he hasn't realized that they're underwater, or he knows.

"Percy?" She was surprised at how her voice sounded. He turns and glides over to her side. "Are you making this bubble?"

He pauses, but then nods. She smacks his arm. "Oh, what was that for?"

"What are you doing? I thought you wanted revenge."

He looked at her shocked. "Why would I want revenge?"

"Your eye."

He didn't say anything. He just gave her a dead look, his face unreadable. She didn't look away. She wanted to know why he chose her instead of revenge.

After a minute or two, he turned to see that the ship was making it's way away from them, probably assuming that they were both long gone.

"Aren't you going to go after them?" She made her voice less acidic, for fear that he might go and leave her here.

He looked down at the ground for a few moments before sighing. He raised his hand and quickly tore off his eye patch. She stared, open-mouthed at him. Two sea green eyes stared right back at her.

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Oooooooohhhhhhh cliffhanger. Hahahahahaha sorry. I've been planning this since I wrote this first chapter. Hahahaha. Expect the next update within a week, but don't be mad if it doesn't come til next month. Sorry. **


End file.
